VTA NEWS
CONTACT:Jayme KunzFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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24-Hour Media PagerFebruary 15, 2006
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VTA Honors Rosa Parks’ Memory During Black History Month
San Jose, Calif. – The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority along with the Mayor and Vice Mayor of San Jose and the Presidents of the San Jose/Silicon Valley N.A.A.C.P. and 100 Black Men of Silicon Valley, Inc. today dedicated a bus in memory of Rosa Parks.
VTA’s 1950’s era historic bus #6512 will now be known as the Rosa Louise Parks Memorial Bus. In addition, the agency placed a plaque over the first row of seats to reserve them in honor of Parks’ courage in the face of oppression.
On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama after refusing to relinquish her seat to a white passenger. Her actions tipped off the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted for more than a year and eventually led to a Supreme Court decision requiring the desegregation of buses. Parks came to be known as the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.”
“Rosa showed a great deal of courage in 1955 by sticking to her principles.,” said Cindy Chavez, VTA’s Board Chair and Vice Mayor of San Jose. “In a single act of defiance, she showed us that each of us has the power to change the world. The world has not been the same since.”
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The event, held on the steps of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library in downtown San Jose, was part of VTA’s Black History Month Program. Chavez was joined by San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, Rick Callendar, president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., Bill Kindricks, president of 100 Black Men of Silicon Valley, Inc. and VTA’s General Manager Michael T. Burns.
Following the dedication ceremony, the Rosa Louise Parks Memorial Bus returned to VTA where a celebration was held. The afternoon event included remarks by San Jose State University Professor Dr. Steve Millner, chair of the university’s African-American studies, a vocal performance and poetry reading were also part of the event.
Black History Month has its origins with Dr. Carter Godwin Wilson, a distinguished African-American author, editor, publisher and historian. Dr. Wilson believed that those without the benefit of a recorded history lose the inspiration, which comes from its teachings. He became an advocate for maintaining the history of the African-American people as a lesson for generations to come.
About VTA
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is an independent special district responsible for bus, light rail and paratransit operations; congestion management; specific highway improvement projects; and, countywide transportation planning. As such, VTA is both an accessible transit provider and multi-modal transportation planning organization involved with transit, highways and roadways, bikeways and pedestrian facilities.
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